A few days later The Wall Street Journal reported that since the quake, this capital city’s single-runway airport and an adjoining military airfield have become the hub of a massive international rescue and relief effort as the impoverished country struggles to care for the huge number of people wounded and displaced in the disaster.

We’re now moving on to a different topic: This week passengers at a US airport had to endure a rather lengthy wait before getting through to customs. Click2Houston reported that Thousands of furious international passengers tried to catch flights home following a massive baggage blunder at Terminal E at Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) stories on LateDeparture on Sunday. As for an explanation from the airlines, passengers were told the chaos was the result of too many international flights arriving at the same time. That’s a rather fishy explanation if you ask us, surely they anticipated the arrival of each of those aircrafts…

And to finish the week off, some ‘storm’ news from New Orleans. According to Reuters a line of storms moving through Louisiana on Monday knocked out power to the New Orleans International Airport (MSY) stories on LateDeparture, sent freight train cars tumbling from an elevated bridge and left nearly 238,000 customers without electricity. At the airport, electricity was off in the main terminal for much of the day and the airfield operated on emergency power, before electricity was fully restored in the evening, an airport spokeswoman said.

It’s been a devastating aviation week with the loss of Germanwings flight 4U9525 claiming 150 lives. Our thoughts are with all families and friends that have lost someone in this terrible tragedy. Aside from this worst-case news, we received the following airport headlines this week

Yes, we’re a bit late this week and even had to change the title of our regular news review as a result of it. Oh well, let’s then get straight into the main story from last week as everything else really just seemed chatter compared to it.

Let’s get going. First up is our coverage from New York. There NJ.com wrote on Thursday that LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is closed today after a plane skidded off a snow-covered runway and came to rest after its nose punched through an airport fence. Officials said none of the 125 people on board was hurt. Port Authorities confirmed that Delta Flight 1086 from Atlanta to LaGuardia landing on Runway 13 skidded into a fence at approximately 11:05 that morning.

One of the runways remained closed until Friday. Fox News reported that [the] airport reopened its second runway Friday after removing a Delta jetliner that skidded and smashed through a fence a day earlier. Cranes were used overnight to remove the plane.

Another accident at the other side of the planet resulted in more airport headaches this week. We’re talking about the Turkish Airline near-miss at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM). NPR.com reported that at about 7:15 a.m. [on Wednesday], the Airbus A330 with 224 passengers attempted a landing but had to abort. The plane circled and then came in again. This time, passengers say the plane hit the ground hard, its nose bouncing up and down as it veered off the runway. The front landing gear collapsed and the plane came to a stop, its nose resting on the rain-soaked, grassy earth. The plane was evacuated safely. The news service then went on by writing the airport was immediately closed to all but helicopter traffic. Flight TK726 has been sitting all day — nose down, tail up — right near the arrival terminal, with one wing just close enough to the runway to block the safe landing or takeoff of any other large aircraft. Thousands of passengers have either had their flights canceled or, if already in the air, been rerouted for an undetermined period that could last days.

Thankfully today we read that the airport reopened when The International Business Times reported that Nepal’s only international airport in Kathmandu reopened late Saturday, after officials finally removed a Turkish Airlines flight that had skidded off the tarmac.

Moving on and back to the United States where a familiar story repeated itself again this week. Yes, it’s like Groundhog day; sadly. The Star Telegram reported that Hundreds of flights were canceled at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) on Thursday as airport crews worked to clear runways of several inches of snow and ice. According to Flightstats.com, 317 arrivals and 264 departures have been canceled at DFW Airport with delays expected to mount as carriers have to de-ice aircraft before take-off in the freezing temperatures.

An entirely different topic reached us via the British Mirror this week. They reported that air passengers in the UK pay the most expensive airport car parking in the world. London City (LCY) tops the table with a fee of £315 (US$475) a week, while seven of the top 10 most expensive airports for parking are in Britain. Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, ­Stansted, Edinburgh and Manchester all make the list and Birmingham comes 11th. Other international airports making it into the list were Sydney at 3rd place, Dubai (5th) or Singapore (6th).

After this, you probably need a little nap, right? Well, you’re in luck if you’re currently at Helsinki Airport (HEL). According to the Daily Mail Helsinki Airport has become the first in Europe to offer sleeping pods for worn-out travellers who are looking to catch a little shut-eye between flights. Already billed as one of the most sleep-friendly airports in the world, Finland’s largest airport has installed 19 GoSleep pods which offer privacy and peace for weary passengers. It costs €9 per hour (approximately US$9.70) and pillows and blankets are available for the pods, which are located at two gates inside the terminal.